[Congressman Billybob]

Dammit! I'm tired of knocking down this argument based solely on New Jersey law. The Constitution trumps NJ law. Therefore, if NJ tries to extend the six-year term that Torricelli now has, NJ loses. Why? Because the Constitution specifies both a six year term for Senators and an election in New Jersey (because Torricelli's six years are almost up) on November 5th.

End of discussion. NJ can no more change the provisions of the US Constitution than it can pass a law and keep the sun from coming up until noon. Is that clear now?

Congressman Billybob

Click for "Til Death Do Us Part."

Click for "to Restore Trust in America"

Click for "Death as a Political Strategy"

[IMRight]

Well. Of course I agree with you completely. But NJ law is quite adequate to the task (despite what judge Napolitano says)

Let's make this simple, shall we? We'll start with a part of the law that nobody is paying any attention to:

"The governor of this state may make a temporary appointment of a senator of the United States from this state whenever a vacancy shall occur by reason of any cause other than the expiration of the term;"

Now. Implicit in this law is that the end of the (constitutional six-year) term causes a vacancy. You must see that, right?And nothing in this law will change the fact that a vacancy will be created on January 3rd (the constitutional end of the term)

So how does that vacancy get filled?
By the general election that happened two months before the vacancy! The law specifically forbids the Gov to fill that vacancy!

That's the normal order of business. The end of the term causes a vacancy and the general election fills that vacancy. Have you seen anything here that would overide that? It's right in the NJ law and the Constitution sets the term and the date of election.

[pulaskibush]

Do you by chance have that specific part of the Constitution that talks about US Senate elections and stuff? I'm sure it's there somewhere, but I can't find it and I'm not a lawyer.